Germany’s TKMS and Canada’s Seaspan Shipyards have signed a teaming agreement to provide Canada with a sovereign submarine sustainment capability as part of the German shipbuilder’s bid for the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP).
The agreement will also enable the two shipbuilders to collaborate on other projects, TKMS said in a 29 January press release.
Under the CPSP programme, Canada is selecting a supplier to build up to 12 diesel-electric submarines (SSKs) for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Two suppliers remain in the down-selection process: TKMS, offering its Type 212 Common Design (T212CD) submarine, and South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean Co., offering its KSS-III Batch 2 boat.
The RCN’s new submarines will replace its four in-service Victoria-class SSKs. The navy’s requirement is for the first new boat to arrive in 2035, with others following at 12- to 24-month intervals, to ensure no capability gap as the Victoria boats begin retiring at two-year intervals from 2034.
A core part of the CPSP programme is building capacity to operate and support the new submarines on both coasts of Canada.
In its statement, TKMS said the agreement with Seaspan would enable collaboration to achieve Canada’s objective of building sovereign capacity for the sustainment and through-life support of naval platforms, with the two companies focusing on the CPSP boats in particular and on potential further opportunities arising from TKMS’s international programmes.
Regarding CPSP, the TKMS statement said, “Under the agreement, TKMS and Seaspan intend to work together as an integrated team with Canada to develop and deliver capabilities that ensure effective sustainment and lifecycle support for future submarine platforms in Canada, with an emphasis on maintaining operational readiness and supporting the RCN’s requirements.”
The statement added that, under the teaming offering, TKMS brings proven submarine engineering and global sustainment experience to combine with Seaspan’s extensive naval and submarine in-service support expertise and workforce, including as part of the RCN’s existing submarine supply chain.
With a requirement to deploy submarines at range across three oceans – the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific – the RCN is seeking a submarine that can sustain operations at range, including under the Arctic ice. It is also seeking to buy enough boats to maintain a presence simultaneously in each ocean, if needed.
Prior to the TKMS and Hanwha down-selection, three additional companies were involved in the bidding process: France’s Naval Group with its Blackfin Barracuda; Spain’s Navantia with its S-80 Plus; and Sweden’s Saab with its A26. All five designs emphasised reach and on-station sustainment to support the RCN’s requirement for deployment at a distance.
by Dr. Lee Willett
